# hobgoblin

> English word · Noun · frequency rank #65,964

## Definitions
1. A small, ugly goblin that makes trouble for humans.
2. A source of dread, fear or apprehension; a bugbear.

## Etymology
From hob (“elf”, from Hob, a variant of Rob, short for Robin Goodfellow, an elf in Germanic folklore) + goblin.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hobgoblin